Uber Ethereal
The Uber Ethereal is the leader of the Ethereal race that attacks Earth in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: Enemy Within. For thousands of years, he had led his people on a journy across the universe, on a search for a species with the potential to be even greater than themselves. Along the way, he oversaw the enslavement of several of races, and ordered that these creatures be experimented on and improved upon, hoping to prepare them for "what lies ahead". What, precisely, lies ahead, is unclear, and the Uber Ethereal resolutly refuses to reveal what it is. The user who plays Uber is the first to do so, and Uber is also the first character the user apped. Background The history of the Ethereals is an utter mystery, something that Uber has only revealed in miniscule pieces. Whether they were physically impressive, with their tall bodies and four arms, is unknown, but they were exceptionally intelligent, and possesed a powerful psionic ability that they call the Gift. They also discovered two incredible resources: Elerium, an incredibly powerful energy source able to power energy weapons and flying saucers, and alien alloys, an alloy they developed with five times the durabilty of steel. This led them to create the incredible machines that would allow them to pursue their agenda. They also prayed to gods whom they refer to as the Ethereal Ones. Apparently, the Ethereal Ones promised to allow the Ethereals to ascend to a higher plane, but ultimately failed to keep this promise. It is unclear whether the Ethereal Ones or the Ethereals themselves were to blame for the failure. Shortly afterwards, the Ethereals learned of a coming danger, and set off to find a species with a stong affinity to the Gift but also possessing a powerful physical form. In this journey, the Ethereals sent out sleeper agents. Sacrificing their physical bodies, these volunteers reduced themselves to a "pure" form, made out of energy and powered by the Gift. These forms were locked into devices, dropped onto various planets, and were not to emerge until the planet's life had developed greatly. While the Ethereals under the Uber Ethereal busied themselves with the races that would become the Thin Men, Chryssalids, and Cyberdiscs, two of these sleepers would led them to Earth. On an unknown planet, a humanoid species called the zudjari had formed. The Ethereal sleeper on that world, Shamash, awoke, and bonded with a young scientist named Origin. Origin, guided, probably unknowingly, by Shamash, led his kind to a technological Golden Age. But Origin betrayed her by forcing her out of his body and capturing her, using her to power Mosiac, and thus using her Gift to mind control the entire zudjari race, turning it into a fanatic army of planet killers. The zudjari eventually attacked Earth, focusing on wiping out and taking control of the United States before moving on to the rest of the world. On the night of their opening assault, Agent William Carter was to deliver a device to Director Myron Faulke. Although nobody knew it, the device held an Ethereal, Asaru. When Carter was shot by a human under zudjari control, Asaru sensed Carter's distress and merged with him, saving his life. Carter and Asaru became one in that moment, and all of Carter's actions after that point might very well have been Asaru's, not Carter's. Together, human and Ethereal killed hundreds of zudjari, as well as their slaves, the small and cowardly sectoids, and their mercenaries, the hulking mutons, and destroyed several gunships, walking tanks called sectopods, and even a nearly indestructible airborne artillery, the Titan. Together, they saved hundreds of lives and broke past incredible odds, eventually taking the fight to the zudjari mothership in an attempt to shut off Mosiac. Mosiac was shut down, and in the process, Shamash was captured. Shamash awoke one day, and when Carter approached her, she contacted Asaru. Asaru and Carter both learned of the former's existence, and the Ethereals discussed on how to proceed with the zudjari and humans. Shamash believed that it would be safest for the universe if the zudjari and humans were destroyed, but Asaru, who, though only now aware of his own being, had grown close to humans, felt that something else could be done. Although Shamash accepted Asaru's perspective, it was for naught, as Carter, enraged at being controlled, shot Shamash and killed her. He was knocked out in the resulting chaos, and awoke just in time for the Bureau's base to be attacked. While fighting his way through the base, Carter continually rejected Asaru, and soon threatened to blow up the entire base if he didn't get out of him. Asaru managed to salvage the situation, having Doctor Alan Weir subdue Carter, then merging with him. Asaru led Weir on a last-ditch effort attack on Mosiac, now being powered by Origin. Even under high resistence and being relentlessy pursued by Carter, Asaru brought Weir to Mosiac, and took control himself. He spared the lives of the zudjari, as well as their slaves and their mercenaries. They were forced to repair their damages to America, but allowed to leave in their mothership afterwards. Asaru soon dissapeared...and likely reported to the Uber Ethereal. With the knowledge provided by Asaru, the Ethereals enslaved the sectoids and mutons. Mysteriously, the zudjari are not in their ranks, and thus their fate is unknown. Because of the clear psionic potential they held, and their sufficient physical forms, the Ethereals believed that they had finally found what they were looking for. Still, Uber desired to witness their greatness first hand, and developed a plot that would allow a human to connect to the Ethereal hive mind, and become greater than any man could have imagined. The Ethereal plan involved a base constructed under Earth's surface, controlled not by an Ethereal, but by a sectoid commander. The commander would collect information gathered by UFOs and stored by crystalline devices, and would relay this an Ethereal hiding in a cloacked via the hyperwave beacon, which would allow it to commincate via long distance psionic use. When humans traced the radio waves of the crystals to the base and took it over, Uber hoped that they would use the beacon to create their own device that would allow them to track alien commnications, and thus would be able to track down and shoot down the hidden UFO. All the while, humanity would be under the constant pressure of an invasion, as the Ethereals would be attacking with their slave army. Facing tech far beyond their own, humanity would be forced to take the alien tech and make it their own. If they couldn't do this and search for the truth, then in the eyes of the Uber Ethereal, they were just another species to improve, not the one they were searching for. In 2015, the Ethereals began their assault. With the world's militaries unable to keep up with the alien menace, the Council of Nations approved the creation of an international, independent body that would focus on combating the threat. This was known as the XCOM project. Led by an unknown commander, XCOM's soldiers fought bravely against the aliens, facing many casulties. Their efforts led to the recovery of Ethereal technology, which was researched by XCOM scientists, whom also developed designs for weapons, armor, and other useful tools that were then built by XCOM engineers. Eventually, they discovered that the crystals in UFOs were antennas, and traced the radio waves to the alien base. Just as Uber had hoped. XCOM raided the base, and after examining the sectoid commander, discovered a way to test humans for psinoic ability. Soon, XCOM soldiers came back with positive tests, and these psi-troopers began to use their skills to give them a significant edge in the war. When the hyperwave beacon was turned into the hyperwave relay, the machine allowed them to find the UFO that had prievously been hidden. XCOM shot it down, and its soldiers clashed with the Ethereal pilot. They won the battle, and brought home a device the Ethereal had been protecting. The device was the key to communicate with the Ethereal hive mind. When research discovered this, it was decided that a soldier with high psionic power would need to interact with it. One soldier volunteered themself to take the step into the unknown. Although this soldier's name is unknown, he or she would go down in history as the Volunteer. When the Volunteer used the Ethereal device, they connected with the hive mind, and the Uber Ethereal invited them to come onto the Temple Ship, his floating citidal in the sky, which he revealed after his talk with them. With no forseeable way of directly attacking it, XCOM had no choice but to take up Uber's offer, sending a squad led by the Volunteer to the ship. Once there, the Volunteer, whom the Uber Ethereal began to call the New One, and their comrades fought their way through all of the creatures the Ethereals had enslaved. All the while, the Uber Ethereal provided exposition, recounting how his people had been searching for so long, how all others before them were utter failures. At the same time, the Ethereal hive mind gave power to the New One, making them almost unstoppable with increased psionic power and a new attack that could rip their sectopods apart in a matter of seconds. The XCOM squad's battle took them to the control room of the Temple Ship, where the Uber Ethereal met the New One face to face. For whatever reason, the Uber Ethereal then attack the Volunteer. Whether it was to kill them, or to capture them and use them to force humanity into submission, it is unknown. This prove to be a terrible mistake, as he died in the struggle. However, he soon finds himself waking up in a wasteland of a world, able to begin anew... Involvement Thus far, the Uber Ethereal has kept quiet, intent on gathering tech, regaining his former power, and making more improvements to his followers. He has opted to stay out of most major affairs. The only major event so far that he has allowed himself to partake in is to volunteer to provide aid to the Wasteland in lieu of the dinosaur invasion. He has, however, recovered a ship with data written in sectoid dialect, which, as the sectoids never made their own flying saucers, is very strange. What this data, which he is looking into, could bring is something yet to be seen. Some time after the Jurrasic Wasteland event, the Uber Ethereal and his men traveled to the Pokémon World, intent on obtaining a psychic-type as an apprentice. What should have been a simple task turned into a fight for their lives as they discovered a Spiritomb leading more than a hundred people to their death, in a plot to replace its collective of souls with the souls of its victims, leaving it free to inhabit a new body. After a long struggle, the Ethereal personally killed the Spiritomb, and the hostile spirits of the Celestial Tower were subdued by him men ringing the bell at the top of the tower. During the process, however, the Spiritomb's intended host, a newborn Elgyem, hatched from his egg. The child immediately began to identify Uber as his father, and, unable to convince him otherwise and still obtaining the apprentice he wanted, the commander took the child in. Shortly thereafter, the aliens discovered a sectoid -- one that had been killed in Operation: Devil's Moon, in fact -- living on the Moon , unaware of their presence. Having already formulated the concept of the Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit, the Uber Ethereal constructed the machine to fit to the proportions of a sectoid. He than kidnapped the sectoid, tore off his limbs, and replaced them with mechanical limbs that would allow him to pilot the MEC. The newly christened Mechtoid has since become a part of the Ethereal's forces. Albeit, a defiant, volatile one with a genocidal hatred towards humanity. One day, Elgyem slipped out of the house without permission. On this venture, the pokemon came across Fujiwara no Mokou's yakitori cart, and quickly became friends with her and her friend, Satori Komeiji. When Elgyem's disappearance was noticed, the aliens scrambled to find him. Mechtoid was the one to locate him, but his abrasive nature and hatred of humans led to a brawl between him and Mokou, one that certainly would have killed her if not for her immortality. All was fine in the end, however, and Elgyem insisted on visiting his new friends again. The Uber Ethereal saw no reason to refuse him, even trusting him enough to leave the house on his own. This left Elgyem as a prime target for the T'lethians, a group of aliens that had been traveling the Multiverse, kidnapping people via their body-controlling Molecular Control (MC) abilities and transforming them into horrific hybrids or mobile weapon platforms. Elgyem was MCed and snatched by the T'lethians, but it did not take long for both the Ethereal and Mokou's group to realize that something was wrong, and they teamed up to find him. Thanks to Satori's ability to read minds, they were able to pick out one of the T'lethians, Gillman, confronted him, and chased him down when he attempted to flee. After an initial bout of panic, Gillman agreed to aid the two groups by telling them everything he could about his former comrades. The rescue team chased the other aliens down in the Ethereal's UFO. With a ship that was too slow and too weak to do anything against them, and a pride that demanded punishment towards those who offended him, the T'lethian leader, Tasoth, landed in the Wasteland, planning to clash and destroy Elgyem's saviors. After a lengthy battle, that saw Mechtoid's MEC getting wrecked by an MCed Berserker and forced the Ethereal to entire his pure form and bond with Satori, the T'lethians were all dead, their creations all mercy killed. Elgyem was saved, unhurt. While the even offered much oppurtunity -- the sonic weapon and aqua plastics employed by the T'lethians, and a DNA sample taken from Lobsterman for use in the Ethereal's plans to eventually begin cloning -- the psychic was far too disturbed by what had happened to care much at all. The T'lethians, he found, were not terribly different from he and his people under the Ethereal Agenda, and he now firsthand knew the terror that spawned by being on the wrong end of such a group. Not only that, but it was here that he realized that he cared for Elgyem as a son, not as an apprentice as he insisted. And, after being forced to withdraw from combat, Mechtoid had told Gillman of all of his atrocities. Gillman in turn discussed the matter with Satori, who then confronted him with this information. Reluctantly, the Uber Ethereal confirmed these claims, then showed her some of his memories of his long life. In the end, he declared her and her friends off limits, not to be touched by the Agenda unless truly, absolutely necessary. Something he swore to never do. At the end of the day, he could only find his faith in his Agenda shaken. After this, the Ethereal began to meet more people. He met Pascal after his attention had been drawn by a failed experiment of hers, and the two began to swap tech and information. He also came in contact with Serina during a Crater Coliseum battle between his men and her soldiers. He began to make more public appearances, most notably participating in the Hylian Unification Ceremonial Tournament of Arms, where he and his men defeated Hrist (follower of Wylfred) and Irelia to make it all the way to the third round. On a personal level, he continued to make improvements to the Thin Man, Berserker, and Mechtoid, and continued to train Elgyem. The group of five also made an expedition to the Big Empty, and have begun the process of making the entire crater and its amazing facilities their own. Perhaps his most important move, however, had been yet to be made. After the Jurrassic Wasteland event, and the mystery surrounding it, had been brought up in a conversation, the commander found himself determined to get to the bottom of it. Using his mastery with computers and technology, he came across several key clues, which brought him to draw a startling conclusion: the creators of these incidents were based in an abandoned workhouse in Traverse Town. Thinking quickly, the Ethereal gathered a team made up of him and his only allies -- Mokou, Pascal, and Serina -- and their friends and soldiers, and lead an assault on the base. The end result saw the head of the conspiracy, Harkin, dead, and his Traverse Town facilities ransacked and captured by the Ethereal and his allies. For a time, Uber guarded over the labs, as well as the technology and research Harkin's group had conducted. Things took an interesting turn when Pascal met with him and Serina with a proposition: The formation of a faction devoted to the study of Multiverse tech and magic, then experimenting to make them better and combine them. Thus was the birth of M.A.R.S., a faction that put his expertise to good use. In the following months, much of his time and efforts became devoted to helping the faction get off its feet. Refurbishing Harkin's Traverse facilities into the faction's headquarters, the Akashic Center, was his star contribution. Other than M.A.R.S. related endeavors, he did little during the Celestial Upheaval. One notable exploit in this time included teaming up with the SA-X and Frank Fontaine to combat T'lethians that appeared in the depths of the Great Sea. While successful, disagreements between him and the X over treatment of the invaders left relations between the two groups strained. Later, the Thin Man and Berserker were sent to Infected Earth when it came dangerously close to the Moon. They, along with Mordecai, Kehrolyn Ross, and Tsubaki Yayoi, participated in a strange game where they were stripped of their powers and forced to fight off Nazi zombies with guns. With the appearance of the New Valorians, Uber has grown mystified but cautious. While initially he wished to observe the situation from afar for a time, a string of murders in Traverse Town pushed him into action. Teamed up with Variphyla, Touko Fukawa, and Raiden, the psychic and his men set out to uncover and confront whoever was to blame... Powers and Capabilities The star power of the Uber Ethereal is the Gift, which gives him the power to alter the world around his with his mind. Among the known capabilities of the Gift are telepathy, mind control, a mental radar, and the creation of pure energy. With Battle Focus, the Uber Ethereal can send his mind into overdrive, allowing him to perceive reality at an incredibly fast rate, almost as though the world around him had stopped in time. He is incapable of direct action while under Battle Focus, but this is hardly a problem, as he can formulate entire plans and give out commands to all of his allies in under a second. He can also directly link his mind to another creature's, allowing them to share information as soon as they obtain them, and allowing his to directly control the linked follower. However, his greatest power is also his greatest weakness. The Uber Ethereal should have died long ago, but through the Gift, he forces his body to keep living. His organs function because he makes them function, and his body cannot move unless moved with an outside force, such as the Gift itself. If he were to lose control of his power, he would drop dead in an instant. The multiverse drain has taken advantage of this. Now, he can not use mind control, or other powerful applications of the Gift, without risking losing control. All uses of the Gift that cannot directly harm an aggressor are not affected by this, but he is left almost completely unable to fend for himself. Of course, one should remember his technological genius. Given the right materials, he could create incredible and efficient devices for all to use. He has already displayed this ability in stripping the rockets off of a glove and fitting them to Berserker's gauntlets, as well a crafting Berserker a shiny, lighter, yet more durable set of armor, not to mention the creation of the MEC. With the potential the multiverse offers, his ability to create proves to be a powerful ally. Followers The Thin Man - Brought into the Multiverse at the same time and place as the Uber Ethereal, the Thin Man hails from a race of man-sized snakes, transformed into human look-a-likes as part of the Ethereal phony war against humanity. The Thin Men were easily manipulated and fiercely loyal, and the Thin Man follows the Ethereal's commands without hesitation. Despite that, he still pains over what has happened to his kind, and tries to prod his master into becoming more aware of his mistakes where he can. In combat, the Thin Man is the frailest of the Ethereal's men, but far from the weakest. He is armed with a light plasma rifle that can punch holes in walls, but perhaps his deadliest tool is his poison. He is capable of spitting globs of poisonous gas as for as he can see, and the Ethereal has capitalized on this. He has given the Thin Man glands to create a burning acid and healing chemicals, given him another combat option and making him capable of healing himself and his allies. The Thin Man stands back during combat, hiding behind the much larger Mechtoid and Berserker and making targetting him difficult. Berserker - A muton Berserker found by the Ethereal and the Thin Man after their arrival on the Moon.Powerful and brutal, yet oddly calm and kind, he is by far the most social of the Ethereal's men, sans perhaps Elgyem. He is confident and jolly, always wearing a smile on his face, even if you can't see it. Berseker fights with his fists, and only his fists. He takes joy in the glory of combat. Along with natural raw strength, Berserker's effectivness is increased expotentially by his suit of black and red power armor, and his gauntlets, fillred with rockets that increase his speed and power by massive amounts. He is perhaps the strongest combatant in the Ethereal's forces. Mechtoid - A sectoid kidnapped by Uber, forced into piloting the first MEC. Mechtoid is grumpy on the bestof days, murderous on the worst. He treats everyone with the same degree of bitterness, but his hatred really spikes up around humans and Ethereals. He's the first to call the Uber Ethereal out on anything, rightfully or not. The MEC is armed with a variety of weapons. Its hands snap back to reveal plasma cannons that shoot disc-shaped bursts of plasma at ultra high speeds. The cannons also double as swords, alien alloy blades capable of chopping down a tree with the flick of a wrist. A magical device implanted into the machine allows Mechtoid to cover his blades with a layer of ice, which can then be fired into a shattering mess of ice chunks. His shoulders are fitted with pods holding prototype seeker drones. They are frail, but the squid-like machines can hold a man in place and strangle them to death. He also possess a Lightning Cannon, a chargeable weapon that fires Elerium tesla coils in an explosion of electricity. All of this, coupled with extremly tough yet flexible armor and auto-repair servos, makes him a swift, durable, and deadly enemy. Elgyem - The Uber Ethereal's self-proclaimed son, a psychic-type obtained in the Pokemon World. Curious, kind, and almost always happy, Elgyem has become a bright spot in the lives of all members of his "family". They all care for him, and are fierce to defend him when he is threatened. He's quick to make friends with anyone. While he doesn't fight much, Elgyem holds an incredible amount of power inside of him. Along with the natural skills of the Elgyem, including high-grade memory manipulation, he has been taught the techniques of the Ethereals, most notably the devastating Psi Lance. Thanks to some tips courtesy of Satori Komeiji, he can also copy techniques by scanning the mind of the performer and mimicking them. There was also an odd situation in which a camera he touched gained a mind of his own... Quotes * "Confident and determined, even when when the odds are stacked against you. How human." -- Uber Ethereal Trivia * The Uber Ethereal and all of his followers come from the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, not from XCOM: Enemy Within. The exception is, of course, Elgyem, who doesn't come from the XCOM series at all. While the concept of the Mechtoid originates from EW, Mechtoid was a sectoid from the EUverse, and his MEC was designed and created in the multiverse. * The events of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified reveals that Ethereals have a from of pure energy, and in this form Ethereals can bond with creatures and directly guide them. Because of Uber's constant ridicule of his current form, it can be assumed that their ultimate plan with humanity was to merge with the strongest people on Earth. See also External links * The Temple Ship (Storage Topic) * The Uber Ethereal's page on the XCOM Wiki. Category:Player Characters